A Magistrate’s Court in the Kuje area of Abuja on Friday granted bail to former presidential candidate and national activist, Omoyele Sowore. The court also granted bail to a member of the legal team which represented the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, Prince Emmanuel Kanu, and 10 others.
Sowore and co were all granted bail for ₦500,000 each, with 2 sureties in like sum.
All 13 defendants were charged with inciting public disturbance and breach of peace in connection with the #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest held on Monday, October 20, in Abuja.
While Ejimakor, Emmanuel and the other 10 defendants were arrested during the protest and later remanded at the Kuje Correctional facility, Sowore was taken into custody on October 23 at the premises of the Federal High Court in Abuja after attending Kanu’s terrorism trial to show solidarity.
Sowore, who is a frontline agitator for Kanu’s release from detention, was on Thursday whisked away by the security operatives who insisted he must go with them to the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Police Command.
After the former presidential aspirant asked what his offence was, one of the officers replied that they were executing an order from the Commissioner of Police.
“The commissioner of police said we should bring you to the office,” he said.
Despite querying the absence of a letter of invitation to him, Sowore, who maintained that his lawyer must accompany him, was taken away in a police van.
Recall that the activist and publisher of an online news platform, Sahara Reporters, was among the organisers of the #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest that rocked Abuja and other parts of the country last Monday.
In the course of the protest, 12 person,s including Kanu’s younger brother, Emmanuel, and one of his lawyers, Alloy Ejimakor, were arrested and subsequently remanded at the Kuje prison.
